Bedtime Story
by Jane Krahe
Summary: Coda to 5x22, so MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FINALE. Dean tells a story. Rating is for language. I can't even list all the characters for fear of spoiling.


**A/N:** Ok, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon. After "Swan Song", i just couldn't get this scene out of my head. It was written quickly, and not beta'd, so forgive any mistakes. It just wouldn't leave me alone.

Bedtime Story

"Tell me a story!"

The man smiled indulgently. "It's late; your mom's gonna be pissed if I keep you up."

"So, let her be pissed. Tell me a story."

"You know, these are the types of stories that should scare you."

"Why would I be scared? You're right down the hall."

The man sighed, and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Which story? You want to hear about the Wendigo? Or the rugaru, maybe? I could tell you about that ghost of the famous serial killer - "

"When you first got here, you said you'd tell why you were back, but you haven't. Tell me what happened before you got here."

A pause. Then: "That's... it's not really a story for kids. It's not exciting, or scaring, or funny. It's just... sad."

"I want to know."

There was a long silence. And then he began. "There was this guy. He was... smart, and strong. He's the best there ever was."

"_You're_ the best there ever was."

"Believe me; he was better. And he was big, like sasquatch big. Big feet, big hands, big heart. A mess of floppy brown hair, and puppy dog eyes. I mean, he was the _master_ of puppy dog eyes. No one could say 'no' to him. He was one of the good guys... but he wasn't supposed to be. See, his whole life, bad guys had followed him around, trying to make him bad, trying to prepare him for something. He didn't know it, but he had a destiny, and it was dark.

But he was stubborn, and good, and not all that easy to manipulate. Or so he thought. The problem is, demons are built to manipulate and seduce."

"What does 'seduce' mean?"

A hasty laugh. "Never mind. The point is... sometimes things are out of your control. See he and his brother -"

"He had a brother?"

"Oh, yeah. Didn't I say that? A badass older brother, who was totally the better looking one, with much better taste in music. Anyway, this guy and his brother -"

"What was his name?"

"Sam. Don't ask so many questions. Anyway, Sam and his big, badass brother spent a long time fighting the Good Fight. People tried to come between them; one almost did. But in then end, they were brothers, and brothers take care of each other. But like I said, some things are out of your control. That destiny of Sam's? He was supposed to be the body, the human ride for the worst motherfucker out there."

"Mom told you not to swear like that."

"And if you neglect to mention it to her, we won't get in trouble, will we?"

The boy laughed. "Keep going."

"See, Sam, his body was so good and so strong, that he was the only one on the entire planet who could do it. Who could be a vessel for the Devil."

Another boyish laugh. "The Devil doesn't exist."

"Oh, he does. Believe me, kid, he does. So does God, but... well, he's kind of out of the picture. So Sam, he's the Devil's vessel. But, the Devil's an angel, so he needed Sam's permission. Sam, of course, says 'no'. But Destiny is a bitch - don't tell her about that one, either - and just wouldn't let go of him. No matter how hard he fought, every step he made brought him closer to Lucifer.

And see, the thing was, they wanted Sam's brother to be the vessel for Michael. Michael's an archangel, Lucifer's big bro, and the only one who could kill him."

"Did Sam's brother say 'no', too?"

"Yeah. Mostly. There was a time... he almost gave in. Because Sam was stronger, and the older brother, badass though he was... well, he'd been through a lot. But he couldn't let his brother down. So, he didn't give in.

They tried to find a way to kill the Devil, but in the end they found out that the only way to win was to trap the Devil back in his cage in Hell."

"Hell exists, too?"

A short silence. "Yeah. It does."

A long pause. "Well? What happened next?"

The man cleared his throat. "They collected the things they needed, but right away, they realized that the only was to actually _get_ the Devil back in his cage was for Sam to 'yes'. Sam would say 'yes', then wrestle control of his body back from Lucifer, and jump into the cage. There'd be no coming back from it. Sam had to go kamikaze, and they only had one shot."

"Did it work?"

"Not at first. And the older brother thought they'd lost. He watched Lucifer walk around in his brother's body, and he... it wasn't pretty inside his head for awhile. What's worse, Michael had found another vessel, so the big showdown was happening. The older brother decided he had to be there. His brother was still in there, still trapped in that body, and if he was going to die, he didn't want him to die alone."

The man stopped talking, and silence filled the room for several long moments. Finally, the boy ventured, "Did he? Did he die?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he did. But not before beating the Devil. Lucifer got pissed at the older brother. He beat him something awful, but when he raised his fist to strike, he froze. The brother could see the cogs working in Sam's mind, could see the battle being fought behind his eyes. And his eyes changed. He was Sam again, at least for the moment.

So, he went to the cage, and he spread his arms. Michael grabbed onto him, but Sam just pulled him along. Lucifer AND Michael tumbled into the Pit together. "

A whispered, "Wow."

"See, Sam, he pulled a Luke. You know who Luke Skywalker is, right?"

"Jesus Christ, of course. You think I'm stupid?"

A deep laugh. "No, kid, I know you're not. Anyway, Luke, he had all these forces against him. The remains of the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance wanted him to kill Darth Vader. And Vader and the Emperor, they wanted Luke to go bad. but Luke created a third option. He made his own choices. He turned his father back to Light Side of the Force, defying everyone around him, and all their stupid expectations.

And that's what Sam did. Everyone was telling him to shut up and accept his Destiny, but he gave that bitch a big middle finger and a 'Fuck You', and saved the whole world while he was at it. Think about that for a minute. The lives of six billion people rested on a twenty-six-year-old's shoulders, and he saved them ALL. If he hadn't been as strong as he was, as hard headed and _stubborn_ as he was, the world would be a scorched and bloody battle field. And you what sucks about the whole thing?

No one will ever know. Because the average person doesn't see, they don't know what goes on when the lights go out. No one will ever know how much he lost, what he gave up for them. Every single person on the face of this planet owes Sam their life, and they will never know it."

The boy was quiet for a moment. Then: "Well, _you_ know it. And now I know it. And if I tell someone the story, they'll know it too. Even if they don't believe, they'll still know."

A dry, humorless laugh. "It's a nice idea kid. But it's time for bed." The man got up, moved towards the door.

"Hey, Dean?"

The man turned, his hand on the door knob.

"Didn't YOU have a brother named Sam?"

For a long moment, the man was silent. Then he said, his voice choked, "Go to sleep, Ben."

And he turned off the lights.


End file.
